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Caroline Oresteia is destined for the river. For generations, her family has been called by the river god, who has guided their wherries on countless voyages throughout the Riverlands. At seventeen, Caro has spent years listening to the water, ready to meet her fate. But the river god hasn’t spoken her name yet—and if he hasn’t by now, there’s a chance he never will.

Caro decides to take her future into her own hands when her father is arrested for refusing to transport a mysterious crate. By agreeing to deliver it in exchange for his release, Caro finds herself caught in a web of politics and lies, with dangerous pirates after the cargo—an arrogant courier with a secret—and without the river god to help her. With so much at stake, Caro must choose between the life she always wanted and the one she never could have imagined for herself.

From debut author Sarah Tolcser comes an immersive and romantic fantasy set along the waterways of a magical world with a headstrong heroine determined to make her mark.

Before doing my Masters, I could easily read books in a couple of days. As a student, it now often takes me a couple of weeks, if not longer. But Song of the Current demanded to be read in a few days once I’d started. It kept pulling me back in, despite a few flaws. I mean, it is filled with dodging pirates while enduring highly entertaining banter.

The first thing I noticed when I opened the book was the map. I love maps, especially illustrated ones with embellishments. This one even had a drakon, plus little pictures of the two main boats involved in the story. The chapter headings also had flourishes. So the book won on a design front.

The main characters, Caro and Marko, are a delight. Caro is stubborn and feisty, dead set on taking over the family wherry from her dad even though, for the first time in generations for her family, the river god hasn’t called out for her. She’s also biracial with an interesting relationship with her mother, a negotiator from a wealthy merchant family. Marko, the courier, is also stubborn, and his snobby, prideful tendencies clash with Caro’s sense of independence and love for her wherry, no matter how old it is. They irritate the hell out of each other, but they have to work together to not only free Caro’s dad, but also accomplish a whole lot more. And yes, this is a hate-to-love tale, and it was done well. (But also, it didn’t get carried away, because Caro is 17 and wants to live her life without being tied down right now. A++)

The side characters were also quite cool. First of all, instead of mermaids, this book has FROGMEN. According to legend, the river god did the deed with a woman, and the result was frog-like people. How about that, eh? And Fee, the frogman on Caro’s wherry, is great, a woman of few words but lots of sense and fight. Caro’s cousins, particularly Kenté, were fun, and Kenté came with her own surprises. Then there were all the wherrymen, who loved their wherries as family and banded together to get revenge on the pirates who destroyed them. Finally, the dynamic between Caro and her parents (especially between her parents) was so unusual in a book but also – I thought – quite real.

I loved how magic worked in this book. Yes, magic. Not wands or spells or anything. No, this was almost like magical realism, in the sense that it wove its way into the story in little ways. The gods in this books are very real, and they “claim” people from a young age. If a god calls out to you, you can wield magic associated with that god. For example, most of the wherrymen are connected to the river god, who speaks to them through small signs in nature, making it easier for them to navigate the riverlands. Shadowmen can manipulate shadows and sleep, able to disappear or infiltrate people’s dreams, but only at night. There’s also the goddess of the sea, who is pretty epic, but I’m hoping there are more gods to come! It’s just cool, ok?

It wasn’t the perfect book. Some parts of the plot were predictable, like what was in the box, and then others seemed to come out of nowhere, there just because the plot needed it. I also felt like I needed a glossary for all the sailing terms thrown around. But I was so entertained, so who cares?

Overall, I loved it. It had pirates, banter, sparky main characters, and twisty gods. It was filled with rescues: family saving each other, friends saving each other, more-than-friends saving each other, DRAKONS SAVING PEOPLE. I’m so happy I read this book, and now I just want more!

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